Starting Over
by vatech-chick09
Summary: A first person story about a girl named Katie who just moved to a new school district right before band camp.
1. Arriving

**Starting Over**

****

I opened the door to the John Tucker High School band room hesitantly. It was July and while all the other sane kids were still at home, all the band kids had to come to school to load up on a bus for band camp. I knew how my old school did band camp but I was new here, and had to start over as a junior. I had the door propped open but couldn't find the nerve to step in. I saw all the kids laughing and talking to each other and looked on in despair, knowing that I was going to have to build new relationships from scratch.

"Do you need help with your duffel?" a male voice asked. I turned to look at my addressor and found the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen. He had spiky brown hair and his eyes were deep pools of blue. He was about 6', a foot taller than myself and had a fairly muscular build.

When I found my voice, I said, "Yes. Thanks. That would be great."

"I'm William by the way but everyone just calls me Will," he said as he lifted the duffel off my shoulder and onto his own. "What's your name? I haven't seen you before, and believe me, I would have noticed. Are you new?"

"Yeah, my name is Katie and I just moved here from Great Falls." I flicked my light blonde hair out of my eyes. "Thanks for helping me with that. You can just set it on a chair or something," I said as we got to the midst of the band hall.

"Well nice to meet you, Katie. Oh, I'm a percussionist by the way. Drum Captain to be exact. What do you play?"

"The flute and the piccolo for marching season. Just don't even mention the 'American Pie' joke. I've heard enough of that."

"Don't worry. I won't," Will laughed. 

A man with a mullet came in the band room and said, "I need to see all the percussionists to help load equipment onto the truck." I assumed he was the band director, Mr. Berns.

"Well, I've got to go but do you want to sit with me on the bus ride? It's fun. There's usually a big group of us who sit in the back of the charter bus." He had a confident grin on the surface but I saw a flicker of self-doubt.

"Sure, that would be fun," I said.

"Great. I'll catch up with you to pick our seats," Will said as he ran off to join the other drummers

Sometimes I thought that percussionist were a cult. They were always apart from the band, doing their own thing and now, I had no one to talk to. My only friend had had to leave me.

I went up to the bulletin board, for lack of anything better to do, and checked out the room assignments for the dorms we were staying in at the college. I was with three other girls: Kayla Daniels- a piccolo player, Jen Morgan- a trumpet player, and Trista Snyder- a trombonist. They were all juniors. I looked farther down the list for Will and found that he was a senior.

I scanned the band room but he was still gone. I figured everyone had signed up for rooms but since I was new, I just got thrust in one. I saw three girls talking together, a piccolo, trombone, and a trumpet player, and thought that it wasn't coincidence. I walked up to them.

"Hi, I'm Katie. Are you all Kayla, Jen, and Trista?" I asked. They nodded. Kayla was a pretty brunette with a slim figure. Jen had darker brown hair and a slightly heavier figure even though she was still slim. Trista had long flowing red hair and blue eyes. I identified them by their cases.

"So you're Katie?" Trista asked. I nodded. "Well, we're going to have fun this year, so I hope you're ready. Oh, and just to clear something up from the get-go, every guy is fair game except for Johnny Kerns, Adam Varsant, and Will Conners."

_Will Conners. That is the Drum Captain, _I remembered from the room list. "Are those your boyfriends?" I asked, trying not to be obvious. 

"Well, Jen and Adam and Kayla and Johnny are going out," Trista started.

"But Trista's had her eye on Will for a long time," Jen finished.

I made a mental note of this. I thought Will was cute and he was showing interest in me but did I really want to make an enemy of one of my future roommates? _No, I want to make as many friends as possible. _

"So who's the band president? Who are the drum majors?" I asked, wanting to be "in the know" about the JTHS band.

"Well, my boyfriend, Adam, is the band _captain_. He's the cute guy with the surfer-like brown hair over there- the one with the goatee," Jen said as she pointed out her boyfriend.

"And Johnny, Kayla's boyfriend, is the tall blonde guy over there. He's the senior drum major. Kayla was actually worried about him working so close with Emily and they had some problems for a little while, but they finally worked it out," Trista said with a grin.

"Who's Emily?" I asked. "Is she the junior drum major?"

"Yeah," Kayla replied. "She's the short blonde girl over there with the short choppy hair."

I laughed. "Well at least I know some of the leaders here…I just wish I knew who my section leader was."

"Well, that would be me," Kayla said sheepishly. "Jen's the section leader for the trumpets and Trista is for the trombones. All the guys in their sections were surprised that a girl got section leader."

"That's really cool that you all are leaders. Should I feel privileged to have joined in with the elite?" I asked, half jokingly. They laughed and I felt that the ice was broken between us. _These girls could become my best friends. They seem like the type I would have been friends with back home. Oh man, I did it again! I berated myself. _I have to stop thinking of Great Falls as home. East side is my home now. __

"So do you guys pick on the freshman too, like my old band did at band camp?" I asked. 

"Of course. That's what they're here for," Jen said.

"Every year on the first night, all the upperclassmen take the freshman out of the dorms and initiate them by painting their faces and just having a little party. Don't worry though. Mr. Berns knows. He thinks it's good because it binds the band together. So, now, you have a heads up," Trista said.

"Thanks," I said.

"Alright bandies, listen up! And fresh meat, you better listen closely," Johnny, the senior drum major shouted. "No one move until I've finished giving directions. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" was the chorus that came from the veterans. 

"I said is that clear?"

"Yes, sir!" everyone said this time, the freshmen picking up on how to do things.

"He's so hot when he's giving orders," Kayla whispered to me.

"Okay bandies," Johnny continued. "This year is going to be the best marching season that John Tucker High School has ever had. Our band has 207 people signed up this year. I know that that number will shrink a little after band camp, but for those of you who stick with it, I commend you. We won't need the ones who leave because they didn't have the right attitude to begin with. Also, our drum line has 20 people- 4 snares, 5 bass drums, 4 quads, and 7 cymbals. Under Will Conner's great and extensive leadership, I expect the drum line to shine. This should encourage the rest of the band to do their best and hopefully to strive for success. This season, at states', Marshall High School won't win the grand championship. We've been an all state honor band for 10 years running now and that's not going to change this year. I know some of you are new and frightened and nervous about what the older kids will think of you, but trust me, after band camp, we will all be one single unit. Upperclassmen, I expect you to befriend and guide the freshman. If you're transferring in from another school, at least you have some marching experience but JTHS does things our own way so you might have to learn a new style of marching especially if you marched traditional. We're a show band. We get the crowd and judges pumped up and are a critical organization to this school's spirit. Emily, do you have anything else to add?" Johnny asked as he turned to the junior drum major.

"I think you pretty much covered it. Just remember, you guys," she said as she faced the band, "this year is our year so make it a great one."

"That was short," I said to Jen, Kayla, and Trista. 

"Well, usually the senior drum major is known as the strict one and the junior drum major as the fun one. But when the junior drum major gets to be the senior drum major, they've toughened up," Trista explained.

"Okay people, no more dawdling," Adam, the band captain and Jen's boyfriend shouted. "Mr. Berns told me to tell you all to get your things and your instruments and load them on the buses. There are four buses and all of you have already been divided onto one of them so as not to cause mass hysteria. The list has just been posted so make sure you check what bus you are on before you leave the band room. All the instruments go under the buses except for flutes and clarinets. Those can be carried onto the buses and stored in the overhead compartments. Geez, I sound like a stewardess," Adam joked. Everyone laughed. "Anyway, when you get in line to board the buses, it's chaperones first, then leadership, then seniors, juniors, etc."

My three new friends and I rushed to the bulletin board to beat everyone else. 

"Oh crap!" Kayla exclaimed. "I'm on bus four with no one…and Johnny's on bus three. Katie you're on bus three. Keep an eye on Johnny for me will you? Emily's on that bus." 

I was going to say, "I thought you guys were over that," but I thought better of it. Instead, I said, "Okay." I glanced at the list. "Oh man, Trista and Jen are on bus two."

"Yeah but Adam and Will are on bus four with you. You must have some kind of luck. You got all our guys on the same bus with you. Just don't mess with them," Trista joked. I tried to laugh but it came out sounding forced. Apparently, no one noticed because they didn't comment. "You should have fun on bus four…all the percussion are on that bus. Don't be surprised if certain games get started…like Truth or Dare." 

This time, I laughed for real. "We used to play that on all our bus rides back in Great Falls. I'm used to it."

"That's good. We better get our stuff or we'll be left behind," Jen stated. We all scooped up our things and I noticed that Trista had the biggest luggage.

"What do you have in there? Bowling balls?" I asked. 

"I like to travel in style. Besides, if the guy I like is going too, shouldn't I look my best?"

I shook my head and smirked. Trista gave me a playful shove. We all walked out to the buses. I headed to the third one in the line up while Kayla headed to the last one and Jen and Trista made a beeline for the second one. Suddenly, I felt someone grab me by the elbow. 

"Hey, you better hurry up and put your stuff on. I'll save your seat by me though- one of the perks of being leadership," Will said. 

"Okay, I'll be right there. Just let me load my duffel." I happened to glance over my shoulder and saw Trista looking at Will and me with narrowed eyes. Then, as if the look had never been there at all, it disappeared. She smiled, waved good bye to me and boarded the bus with Jen. I was the last one to get on bus three. I stopped at the front of the bus and searched for Will. _His spiky brown hair shouldn't be too hard to spot. _

"Hey, Katie. Back here," I heard some one shout. I looked toward the back of the bus and sure enough, spotted Will. He had gotten the three seater in the back. The three seat bench faced a two seater so that the people in the two seater were riding backwards. Johnny was on the other end of the three seater so I assumed the spot in the middle had been reserved for me. I walked to the back, put my flute up top in the carry on bin, and sat between Will and Johnny.

"Hi, I'm Johnny if you don't already know. I'm not as mean as I sound when I'm in command. Really I'm not," Johnny said. 

"Sure, Johnny. Don't believe him Katie. He's the devil," the girl I knew to be Emily said from the two seater. Everyone around us laughed. I surveyed the group and was surprised to find that I knew almost everyone. There was Will, Johnny, Emily, and Adam. There was a pretty girl with long black hair sitting next to Emily and a guy and girl sitting together in the seat in front of the bathroom. 

"Hi, I'm Trixie," said the girl with black hair. "I think you know everyone except Paul and Sam over there cuddling," she said, indicating the guy and girl sitting in front of the bathroom. "They're drummers."

"Hello? Is this on?" a voice on the loudspeaker asked. Then it squealed and we all shrieked in response. "Alright, kiddos. We're on our way to State College. It'll be about a four hour trip so settle in. Just be quiet long enough so I can call roll and then you can have your chaos. I'm Mrs. Varsant by the way, Adam's mom, if you didn't know." She started calling the role and when she said, "Katalyn Thompson," I said, "Here." When she was done, we pulled out of the school parking lot.

"Who wants to play Truth of Dare?" Paul said. Our whole group said, "Yes," and the two guys in the seats in front of Emily and Trixie, Matt, James, and Scott Delvins turned around to play, too. I recognized them to both be bass drums because I had seen them practicing on them.

Paul started. "Emily, truth or dare?"

"I'll start easy. Truth." 

Paul didn't miss a beat and said, "Okay, have you ever kissed anyone on this bus?"

Emily looked sheepish and snuck a glance at Johnny. I saw. _What's really going on there?_ "Yes," she said simply. "Trixie, truth or dare?" Trixie picked dare. "I dare you to kiss Johnny for ten seconds on the lips." _That's weird. Maybe she's trying to divert attention away from the fact that she likes Johnny. _Trixie shrugged. She sat on Johnny's lap and held him in a lip lock for the full ten seconds.

"Katie," Trixie said. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," I said, trying to be brave.

"I dare you to sit on Will's lap and whisper sweet nothings in his ear for two minutes."

"Sure," I said. "Is that all you got?" I sat on Will's lap and he put his arms around my waist. My arms encircled his neck and I whispered, "This is stupid. I'm on a bus playing Truth or Dare and I have to whisper in your ear for two minutes so I can finish my dare. At least I'm not bored though and I don't have to do something gross like lick the back of someone's neck. I've done that before and it was nasty." It went on like this until two minutes was up. I climbed off Will's lap and back into my seat. He had a goofy grin on his face. Then he turned to Scott. 

"Scott, truth or dare?"

"I dare you to lick the back of Matt's neck." Will turned to me and winked.

"Aw man, that's nasty, but I'll do it. Look down, Matt." Matt did so and Scott licked his neck.

We kept playing until we got bored. Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, a must have movie for band trips, was playing, so we all turned to watch the t.v.'s. I fell asleep and the last thing I remembered was when the king was fighting the Black Knight and said, "What are you going to do-bleed on me?"

When I woke up, I first noticed that I was leaning over, leaning a little to the left. Then, I realized that I had fallen asleep against Will. I noticed a slight pressure on my shoulder and saw that he had his arm around me. _This is bad, _I thought but at the same time, I was giddy with pleasure. He started to wake up. It was probably because I was moving so much. He turned to look at me.

"How was your nap?" he asked. I said that it was good.

"How was yours?"

"Good, too. I put my arm around you because you were shivering," he explained.

Before I could say anything, Emily said, "You guys looked so cute all snuggled up together. It was like a Kodak moment."

Will and I both blushed. He turned to me and whispered in my ear, "I'd like to put my arm around you more times. I really want to get to know you and trust me, it's not because I want to be your friend."


	2. Freshmen Initiation

Chapter 2

"Listen up, everyone," Mrs. Varsant said. "We're finally here at State College. Before you get off the bus, I have some instructions for you. The girls are going to be in the building named Stine Hall. The boys will be bunking in Enderson Hall. At no time, under any circumstances, are boys permitted in girls' dorms and vice versa. If anyone is caught, they will be kicked out of the Marching Eagles. Also, you will be given schedules as you exit the bus. First, everyone will be unpacking in their dorms until 11 am, when you will report to the stadium. Alright, have fun."

"Is everyone ready to party tonight?" Scott asked. There was a chorus of "Heck yeah" 's. "I can't wait until we get to mess with the freshmen."

Will turned to me and said, "Do you know where it is?"

"No, but Jen, Kayla, and Trista were going to show me the way."

At the mention of Trista's name, Will's face blanched. "You're friends with Trista? She's stalked me since the eighth grade. She annoys me to no end."

"Well, yes we are friends and I don't find her annoying. She befriended me since I'm new. She's really friendly and outgoing."

"That's because she's not stalking you," Will said pointedly. We stepped off the bus, grabbed our schedules, and went to get our luggage.

"Hey, Will, man stop hogging the babes. You already have Trista who adores you. Don't take the only other hot girl in this band," Scott said from behind us. I'm sure my face turned five shades of red then.

"Like you could get a hot girl if you paid her," Will joked. Scott lightly punched him on the arm and they play-wrestled on the ground.

"Boys, kindly get back to your feet," Mr. Berns said as he passed by. 

"Yes, sir," they both said and hopped up.

Just then, Trista came over. "Hey, Katie! How was the bus ride? Ours was boring." Before I could answer, she went on, "Oh Will, I didn't know you were riding this bus!" She grabbed his arm and led him away, leaving Scott and I by ourselves.

"So, um, you know the freshman thing tonight?" Scott asked. _Is it just me, or does he look nervous?_ "Well, I was wondering if you would like to go with me," he paused, "as my date."

I thought for a moment. _Isn't this the solution I've been looking for? I don't want to upset Trista and if I go with Scott to the party, then Will will see that I'm not interested. Yet, I don't want to hurt him. On the other hand, Scott is pretty cute and seems like a lot of fun. Will will understand my reasons, right? I realized that Scott was looking at me expectantly. "Oh, sorry. I spaced out for a moment. Sure, I'll go with you tonight. Let's just meet there. That will be easier."_

Scott's face lit up. "Okay, I'll see you there." He walked away to his dorm. I grabbed my duffel and went to Stine Hall. I found 6b and opened the door. It was a small, bare room with two bunk beds on either side, and a small table in the middle. There was a tiny closet with a full length mirror on the outside of the door.

"Hey, Katie. Trista's off with Will somewhere, but we're here," Jen said with a grin. She was hanging her clothes up in the closet while Kayla put up posters of Julia Roberts everywhere.

"You do know we're only here for a week, right, Kayla?" I asked.

"I have to put up these posters of my idol. They remind me to be strong and have courage."

I looked at Jen. She shrugged. "Scott asked me to be his date to the party tonight," I blurted out.

Jen raised an eyebrow while Kayla looked positively giddy. "So what did you tell him?" Jen asked.

"I said 'yes'. No big deal. He's hot and he seems like a lot of fun," I said.

"He is. If you want to have fun, he's the guy." Then Jen thought better of what she had said. "Don't take that pervertedly."

Just then, Trista flung the door open. "I had so much fun with Will. We took a walk and got to talk." She sounded like she was in a daze.

"Katie has some news, too," Jen said. "She and Scott are going to the party together."

Trista's face looked relieved for a split second and then changed back to normal. "Scott's an awesome guy. Don't hurt him."

"I'm not planning on it," I said.

"Oh, man you guys, we better go if we don't want to be late to the stadium," Kayla said. I grabbed my piccolo, and Jen, Kayla, and Trista grabbed their instruments. We sprinted all the way down to the field, and by the time we got there, we were out of breath.

"---- break up into sectionals," Johnny was telling the group. All the section leaders shouted for their sections to follow them.

"Drummers, over here on the fifty yard line!" Will was shouting.

"Piccolos! Follow me!" Kayla shouted. I stuck by her. When we got everyone together, she started talking again. "Alright, ladies, and gentleman," she amended when she saw a guy in our midst, "we, for the most part, have the melody so it's important that we sound great. Therefore, I need to rank you based on ability so that we have the people who can reach the higher notes on first part and the others on second." She made all of us play all our major scales, or as many as we could remember. I was ranked the best, next only to Kayla herself. I was proud of myself and looked at the first piccolo part of our show. It was pretty simple. Some of the 16th and 32nd combinations looked tricky but were nothing that hard.

"Alright, piccs, take five. That means just five. Understand?" Kayla said. Everyone said, "Yes". 

I went over to the water table because I was about to die if I didn't get a drink. It was stifling hot. The only problem was that the water table was by the percussion.

I walked by without glancing at them, when I heard my name called. "Hey, Katie! Are we still going to the party together?" Scott shouted. I cringed inwardly. _There's no use hiding it now. Will would have found out anyway. I put on a smile._

"Of course. Why wouldn't we be?" I shouted back. Scott grinned. I snuck a glance at Will. His whole body was rigid and tense. He looked as if anyone touched him, he would explode. His hands were clenched into fists and he wouldn't even look at me.

"Percussion, take a break," he said. They all set their drums on the grass and started talking. Will made a beeline for me.

"You can do whatever you want," he said, "but I don't play games. I told you how I felt and I thought it was mutual. I can see I was mistaken. Just don't come crawling back to me when you see that you made the wrong choice. Sloppy seconds aren't my style." His eyes were full of pain but his voice was cold and distant. He turned his back on me before I could get a word in edgewise.

I felt like crying. I just wanted to keep my new friends. Was it a crime to want to have friends? _Why does life have to be so hard? Why can't Will just understand that if Trista didn't like him, I would go out with him in a second? I went over to the water table, grabbed a cup, jammed it under the spout, and angrily filled it up to the top. I chugged the water down and felt the cool liquid quench my thirst. I crumpled the cup up and threw it away when I saw Scott heading toward me. I had to admit that he looked pretty good in a black wife beater and khaki shorts. His dark brown hair was gelled to perfection and his shirt showed off his perfectly tanned muscles. I saw more than a few girls' heads turn to watch him cross the field. _

"Hey, Scott. What's up?"

"What was that all about with Will? He looked pissed. It didn't have anything to do with me taking you to the party tonight did it? I mean, I didn't want to cause any trouble. You guys didn't have anything going on between you two, did you? I just had to ask you out. You could say that I was compelled by your cuteness." He grinned and his eyes twinkled.

"No, the whole thing with Will was my fault. We didn't have anything going on." _That's the truth. We didn't really, I tried to convince myself. __Besides, Scott is a great catch. A lot of girls like him so why should Will be any better? I think I just want the one guy I can't have when there's a great guy right in front of my face. I'm just going to suck it up and forget about Will. I can just avoid him and then everything will be okay. _

"Cool. Glad to hear it," Scott laughed. "So how's your sectional going? Mine's going pretty well. Will's working us really hard, though, to be the best, better than Marshall especially. We're going to learn about ten different cadences this year. Our drumline's going to kick butt."

"That's awesome. My sectional is going pretty well too. I'm the best piccolo player after Kayla so I'm going to get to help out. I can't wait for concert season though, when she goes back to playing bassoon. Then, I get to be section leader."

Scott chuckled. "You're not even in band camp for a day, and already you're planning for when you're going to be section leader. Well, I'm glad for you. Just don't let it go to your head." He poked me in the head. 

"That hurt," I said, even though it really didn't. "You're going to pay for that Mr. Delvins." I lightly hit him on the shoulder.

"Oh I see how it is. You want to play around, huh? Well, old Scott here is not going to get beaten by a piccolo player." Scott grabbed me around the knees, picked me up, and hoisted me over his right shoulder. I pounded him on the back, yelling at him to put me down. He ran across the field, with me on his shoulder until I got dizzy. Then, he put me back down and I nearly collapsed. He put out his arm to steady me. "Woah, Katie, don't topple over. Can't break anything before marching season starts."  
            "Thanks, but you better watch out; I'll get you back. Just remember that the scores not even," I said playfully. I glanced over to where my section had been practicing. They were starting to regroup. "Okay, well, I'll see you tonight because I have to get back to my section."

"Alright. Um, I guess I'll meet you by the fire. Okay?"

"That's fine. I'll see you then." He leaned his 6' 1" frame down and gave me a little hug. I ran off to join Kayla and my section. She was teaching the freshmen about the roll step when I got there. They were having problems with it. I remembered my freshmen year and how hard it was to get all the motions and commands down but after I had learned them, everything was a piece of cake. I'm sure these freshmen would master everything easily too.

The rest of the day went by in a flurry and at 7 o' clock, Kayla, Jen, Trista, and I were preparing for the party and induction of the freshmen to the band. I guessed it wasn't anything that fancy because they were all wearing jeans and khakis. I decided to wear jean shorts and a cute red halter top. I just threw my hair up into a long, messy ponytail, put on a little mascara and lipstick. We all walked past all the buildings on campus, through the woods, to a secluded area where a bonfire was burning brightly. Jen and Kayla ran off with Johnny and Adam, leaving Trista and I by ourselves. Everyone was talking and dancing to music that was coming from a boom box somewhere. 

"This is going to be so cool," Trista said. "I wonder where Will is. I bet tonight is the night that we finally get hooked up. We got to talk after the bus ride for a little bit so I think we're becoming better friends. He's going to ask me out soon. I can just feel it." She looked so hopeful that I couldn't help but feel sorry for her because I knew that Will thought she was annoying and clingy. Yet, he probably didn't think too much of me right now either and I had managed to blow it within about one day. How could I get someone to go through so many different emotions for me in a day? It was crazy. I just needed to forget Will, but no matter how hard I tried, he kept popping back into my head. I just needed to make this thing with Scott work out and put extra effort into that and all thoughts of Will would be permanently erased from my head. I spotted Scott and told Trista that she could come with me if she wanted. She declined, saying that she was going to go find Will. I ran toward Scott and jumped on his back. He grabbed me around the legs to hold me up.

"Guess who," I said happily.

"Hmmm….is this a short beautiful blonde piccolo player by any chance? Oh wait, never mind. It's probably that hot brunette from my art class," he said.

"Nope, I'm definitely not taking art."

"Nah, I'm just playing with you. There's no girl as hot as you…Katie…"

"So you do remember my name…" I said.

"How could I forget? Your name will forever be burned in my memory and I don't think that you'd ever let me forget it anyway. Isn't that right?" he asked, turning his head as far back as he could to look at me.

"Yup. I'm going to stick in your memory like gum in hair," I said as I gave him a peck on his cheek. I jumped off his back, which was rather hard to jump onto in the first place, considering that there was over a foot in height difference. Scott grabbed my hand and started to swing it. He looked me up and down.

"Wow, you look amazing. I hope you weren't planning on seducing any other guys because, tonight, you're all mine," he said. I immediately thought of Will and then, just as quickly, suppressed the thought. Then, all the leadership people turned the music off, and stood on a makeshift platform.

"It's time to paint the freshmen!" Adam yelled. There was a roar of approval through out the band.

"All the freshmen need to line up in front of the platform in a single file and wait to be painted. We also have feathered hats and Hawaiian grass skirts for you to wear- girls and boys, alike," Johnny announced. I noticed that he was standing in between Adam and Emily while Kayla was standing off to the side. All the freshmen lined up reluctantly.

"Hey guys, I wouldn't grumble if I were you all," Emily said. "We all went through it and now it's your turn. Just think, after this, you're initiated into the band and one of us. And you have three years ahead of you to do this to other freshmen that come in."

Johnny, Adam, Will and some other senior guys grabbed the buckets of paint and brushes and placed them in front of the freshmen. "Alright, upperclassmen," Will said, "grab a brush and start painting a freshman!" I couldn't help but notice how hot he looked. He had changed from this afternoon into jean shorts, sandals, and a black Led Zeppelin shirt. He also wore a Penn State hat that had a bent brim. I knew I had to stop obsessing about him. This was ridiculous! I was getting as bad as Trista. I grabbed Scott's arm and pulled him to a can of bright neon orange paint. We grabbed two brushes and started painting a short, gangly freshman's face. He was taking it pretty well and joking with everyone.

"Don't forget to paint the pits, you guys!" he said. Scott lifted his arm up and painted one armpit bright orange and then the other. I was thoroughly grossed out. 

"Hey, Will, man, come over here and grab a brush!" Scott called out to Will. I guess I had kind of forgotten that they were friends because it took me by surprise. I looked up and saw Will shoot a look at me. I probably looked like crap in the heat and brushed a sticky piece of hair out of my face. He looked torn between wanting to come over and wanting to run ten miles in the other direction. 

"Aw, no thanks, Scott. There's a freshman over here that no body's touched and I want to make sure that every freshman gets painted."

"Okay, man," Scott said as Will turned his back on us. I felt kind of deflated. My adrenaline had raced at the thought of him joining us but when he rejected the offer, I felt let down. Scott and I finished with the poor, now completely orange, freshman. We looked at our creation and Scott plopped a feathered, chieftain-like hat on his head. Then he gave me a funny look. He looked as if he was planning something. I gave him an inquisitive look in return and before I could react, he grabbed a bucket of purple paint and dumped it on me. 

"Scott Delvins! The paint's for the freshmen. You are so dead!" I said as I grabbed a bucket of hot pink paint and dumped it all over him. He gave me a mischievous grin and ran toward me. He enveloped me in a big bear hug, and when we broke apart, we were a mixture of gooey purple and pink. I was wrapped up in the moment and caught up in enjoying myself. It was the most fun I had had since band camp started. 

"That was awesome," Scott said, echoing my exact thoughts. "Katie, you're a great girl. I haven't had this much fun with anyone. I mean I can just be my oddball self with you and we can have a great time. When we get back to 'the real world', do you want to go out sometime?" 

I was caught off guard. Here we were having a great time, and then he throws something like this at me. I thought for a moment and then decided, _Oh what the crap? Why not?_ _It's just a date; it's not like he's asking me to be his girlfriend._ "Sure, that sounds cool. And maybe we can do something other than getting all painted up."

"Yeah, I've heard of girls getting all painted up for a guy, but this is just ridiculous." 

"Hey, Scott!" Matt James, from the bus ride, called. "Come here for a minute. I have to tell you something!"

Scott looked at me apologetically. "Hey, uh I have to go talk to Matt for a while. I'll be back okay?"

"That's fine. Trust me, I think I can handle a couple of minutes without you. I'm not going to spontaneously combust or anything." He laughed and then jogged over to Matt.

I wandered around watching people getting painted and everyone dancing to the latest pop song that had come out. I wished I had more friends because I knew that Jen and Kayla were off with their boyfriends somewhere and who knew where Trista could be. I was just mulling over this fact- that I had hardly any friends, when Will came up. I was completely surprised. The shock must have shown on my face because Will fumbled for an explanation.

"Um, I've been thinking a lot. Trust me, I've had plenty of time to think between this afternoon and right now. I was really harsh with you and I didn't mean to be. I'm really sorry. It was out of line. I was just extremely mad at the time, and I know that's no excuse but I just wanted everything between us to be okay." 

I couldn't say anything so he continued.

"To be honest, and you don't know how much I hate saying this, I can't get you out of my head. It's like no matter what I do, you're always there. You hurt me really bad but—" 

I finally found my voice. "I didn't mean to. I just….Scott asked me to come here with him, and well, nobody else had and I don't really have that many friends so I said 'yes'. I knew that Jen and Kayla would probably be off with Adam and Johnny and I'm sure Trista has other friends. I just didn't want anybody to have to worry about me tagging along," I said, which was partially true, even if it wasn't the main reason I had accepted Scott's offer.

"Katie, I'm your friend too, or at least I hope I am. You could've hung out with me. I mean, I can see your reasoning and I guess you didn't mean to hurt me."

"That's right. I really didn't and I'm truly sorry because you were the first person I met here and I wouldn't ever want to hurt you. If you want to know the honest truth, and this is really hard for me to say-" I took a big breath. "There are underlying reasons for why I can't ever be involved with you the way you want us to be. They have nothing to do with Scott either. I just, I just can't," I said helplessly and feeling rather pathetic.

Will's face brightened, slightly. "So, if these 'reasons' didn't exist, then you would go out with me?"

I hesitated. This was getting into dangerous territory. "Well, yes," I said.

"So there's a chance then. Katie, I'm going to try to get you to change your mind. Whatever these reasons are, they can't be that big. I really like you and if there's a chance, then I'm going to pursue it. I know that Scott likes you too and he's my friend but there's no way he can like you as much as I do. Katie, you're not going to get away. That happened to me once and I swore, then, that I'd never let it happen again. Scott will get over it. Just know that I'm going to romance you're socks off Miss Katie Thompson," Will said, his whole mood changed. He walked away, leaving me wondering once again, how our whole relationship could change so fast.

Scott came back and I said that I was too tired to party anymore, which was true. I told him that I was going to head back to the dorm and I could find my way back okay by myself. He gave me a hug and said he'd see me in the morning. I walked back to Stine Hall and collapsed on my bed. I didn't even get to change my clothes before I was snoring away.


	3. The Idiots Are Taking Over

Chapter 3  
  
"Wake up, sleepy head," a voice yelled from above. "It's time to march. You missed breakfast."  
I rolled over onto my stomach and put the pillow over my head. Everything was coming back to me now. I was at band camp and had a weird dynamic going on with Will, Scott, and even Trista. I groaned. All I wanted to do was to stay in my nice comfortable bed and sleep the day away. I wasn't up for confrontation. Suddenly, I felt the covers being dragged off of my body and felt chilled.  
"If this is what it takes to get you up, then so be it," Jen said. "I never took you for a deep sleeper but apparently I was wrong. You slept through breakfast. You can't sleep through morning warm-ups too. And besides, Scott was asking about you this morning."  
I groaned even louder and might have tossed in the occasional grunt. The day was already starting out too complicated and could only get progressively worse. "You, go on without me, Jen," I mumbled half- heartedly, scrunching up to get warm.  
Jen responded to my flippant attitude by blasting her trumpet right into my ear. "All right, all right. I'm up!" I said as I jumped out of the bed- anything to get away from Jen's blasted trumpet. "How annoying," I muttered as I turned to look in the mirror. The sight that faced me then was a sight so horrendous that someone might have mistaken me for a circus freak. I had mascara and eyeliner streaks running all down my cheeks. My lips were puffy and the area around them was stained a blurry red. Needless to say, I looked about as pretty as the Bride of Frankenstein. Quickly, I ran to the bathroom and washed my face. After changing and redoing my makeup. I made my way to the outside of the building where Kayla, Jen, and Trista were waiting for me. I saw their cases and was reminded that, obviously, I needed my piccolo. I started to head back for the dorm.  
"Hey, Katie! Don't worry. I have your picc right here with mine! I grabbed it because I knew you were running late and thought that you'd forget it," Kayla said.  
"You're a lifesaver. Thanks," I said as I grabbed my instrument from her hand. We all headed over to the stadium where we would be practicing our field show. When we got there, Johnny, Adam, and Emily were handing out drill charts to section and squad leaders. Kayla got a chart and to my surprise, so did I. I looked at my chart, found my number on the field, and saw that I was on the other end of the piccolo line from Kayla.  
"You're a squad leader, Katie. Since we have twenty piccs, I'll get ten and you can watch over the ten on your side. Also, every other person is a freshman. You do know how to read a drill chart right?" Kayla asked.  
"Yeah, we used them in Great Falls. I'm good."  
"Great. Just head out to your spot and round up your people and place them, okay?"  
"No problem, boss," I said with a fake salute. Let's see. The flutes stay by the section with a "P" for most of the show, I thought, looking over my drill book. The "P's" must stand for percussion. Oh no, who's going to stand next to me since I'm on the end? I hope I get along with them since I'm beside them for the whole season. I went off to mark my spot on the 35 yard line, four steps behind the front hash mark. When I had marked all my people off, I went back to my spot. I looked to my left and saw none other than Will himself with a large snare harnessed to his muscular frame. He was wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses so I couldn't see his eyes.  
"Hey, Will. I guess we're marching next to each other," I said in the biggest understatement of the year.  
"Yeah. This is going to be a fun season. Just make sure your piccolo buddies don't run over my guys," he said jokingly. "They don't need any more distractions than there already are by the piccolo section being charted next to them." I looked over and saw our two sections already intermingling, talking and flirting with each other. Even our token guy piccolo was flirting with one of the female cymbal players. I couldn't help but glance at Scott. He was having a nice friendly chat with Kayla. Will caught my gaze and scowled.  
"I'll be straightforward because that's the kind of guy I am. Is Scott one of the 'reasons' that you can't go out with me? He's one of my good friends but if you all ever went out, I'd kill him."  
I squirmed uncomfortably. Will was extremely perceptive but he was wrong if he thought that Scott was the reason that I couldn't start anything with him. "Will, I already told you that Scott has nothing to do with why I can't date you. Look, I really can't tell you why because it would just cause a lot of hurt and embarrassment. Besides, you can't like me that much. We barely know each other. I mean," I said when he started to interrupt, "I don't know what your favorite ice cream or color is. I don't know when your birthday is or how many siblings you have. Do you get along with your parents? Do you even live with your parents? And how many smiles do you have? There are all these details that I don't know about you and you don't know about me."  
"How many smiles I have? I wasn't aware that people could have more than one smile," Will said with a smirk.  
"Well, you just showed me one. You smirk when you're amused."  
Will looked sheepish. "Yeah, well, my favorite color is red. I love Rocky Road ice cream. My birthday is in a month, when I will turn eighteen. I live with both my real parents and have two older brothers, both of which are currently enrolled in the best college in America, Penn State. What about you, Miss Thompson?"  
"You actually want to know all that about me?"  
"Well, it's only fair since, now, you know more about me than I do you."  
"Okay then. I love mint chocolate chip ice cream and my favorite color is blue. I live with my real mom and my step dad whom I've known since I was four. And I'm an only child."  
"Nice. Where's your real dad?"  
"He lives across the country with my step mom. I get to see him every summer, usually."  
"Oh that would suck. I can't imagine not being able to see my dad whenever I wanted. I'm sorry."  
"It's not your fault so don't feel sorry. I mean I can't really remember it any other way, anyway..." I trailed off as I saw Trista saunter over to us with a confident air. She came up behind Will and hugged his waist.  
"Guess who, Will," she whispered in his ear.  
"I have no clue," he said as he unclasped her hands and turned to face her. "Oh, hey, Trista. What's going on?" he said, politely.  
"Nothing really. We're not doing anything and my section's good enough that I can leave them by themselves for a little while. So how's everything going? I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," she said innocently.  
"Not really," I began just as Will simultaneously said, "Actually-".  
"Katie, I think Scott wants you to talk to him," Trista said with a hidden agenda. I looked over at Scott who seemed perfectly content with practicing his bass drum.  
"I'm pretty sure he's doing okay right now, without me," I said. I saw Will start to reach for my hand, I guess to show Trista that he wasn't interested. I took a step back. "On the other hand, Scott does look kind of lonely. I think I'll go keep him company." I half-ran, half-skipped over to Scott and his bass drum.  
"You know what I like about band?" Scott said as he saw me meander over to him, out of the corner of his eye.  
"What? Drumline?"  
"Among other things but what I was going to say was the hot girls," he looked up from his bass drum at me, "especially hot girls named Katie." I felt the color rise in my cheeks. I looked over to Will and Trista. He looked annoyed with Trista. I couldn't see how she could be so dense as to not see how he was irritated every time she came up to him. Will looked at me and winked. He said something to Trista then came over to Scott and me, leaving Trista standing alone. She looked mad.  
"Hey guys," Will said. I saw Scott tense up out of the corner of my eye. I figured there was no way to prepare myself for these awkward situations that would inevitably arise. "Hey, man, why don't you help Spencer master his rhythms while we have down time," Will said in a way that wasn't really as much of a question as it was a command.  
"I don't think so. He's pretty much got them down. Spence will be fine," Scott said as he started clenching his fists by his side.  
"Naw man, I really think you should go help him."  
"And I said he doesn't need help, man."  
"Look guys-"I began and then broke off, not really knowing what to say. Their behavior reminded me of the Discovery Channel when the two alpha males are vying for one female's attention.  
"We have to be the best drumline this year and I'm Drum Captain so go help Spence."  
"If you're so concerned about Spence, why don't you go help him out? You obviously know the rhythms better than I do."  
"You've always been better at the bass drum so just go bloody help him, Scott!" Will yelled with fury.  
Scott pushed him so he had to take a step back. "Look, man, I know that you like Katie too but it's pretty lame that you have to abuse your position just to get her alone. And I don't appreciate it very much. You're supposed to be my friend."  
Will pushed Scott back. "No, what's lame is you trying to horn in on my girl who I met first anyway."  
A crowd started to gather around the two guys. I saw Trista heading over and groaned. A bad situation was about to become worse.  
"Yeah, well, who did she go with to the bonfire? Who does she keep talking to and who does she keep trying to avoid?" Scott asked. Will's whole body started trembling with rage.  
"Scott, I'm warning you. If you don't leave right now, I'm going to punch the crap out of you," Will said in a strained voice.  
"Bring it on, captain."  
"You guys quit it!" I said as I tried to get between them. Two drummers grabbed my arms and held me back.  
"You can't stop them now," one of the drummers said.  
Will charged at Scott but Scott was ready for him and punched him squarely in the eye. Will started bleeding but that didn't stop him from getting a prime hit right in Scott's jaw and another in his stomach. The crowd was screaming and rooting for one guy or the other. They were just contributing to each guy's anger and fueling the fire. I saw Trista look longingly at Will and then shoot me the most scathing look I'd ever had directed at myself.  
Then, Johnny and Adam came into the midst of the circle with Mr. Berns. He blew a loud whistle and both Scott and Will stopped in mid punch. "You boys need to stop this ridiculousness. I expected more from the both of you, especially you Will, being on the leadership team." Mr. Berns then spoke to everyone else. "All of you go back to your sections. Johnny and Emily will begin rehearsal now while I deal with these two rogues." He turned back to Will and Scott. "You boys, follow me to my temp. office."  
Will and Scott, both bleeding and bruised, started to follow Mr. Berns. Then, they both looked back at me at the same time. I turned my head. Grudgingly, they left. I searched for Kayla and found her with the piccolos.  
"Hey, Kayla, can I please miss this rehearsal? I need to talk to the guys."  
She paused and hesitated. "Look, Katie, a lot of people have already been hurt- Will, Scott, and Trista. Just don't make things worse than they already are."  
I was shocked. What kind of person did she take me for? I don't normally go around hurting people. I didn't have time to explain, though. I thanked Kayla and ran after the guys.  
Mr. Berns' temporary office was a little building just off the field. I waited outside the door and could hear plenty of angry male shouting, although I couldn't make out what was being said. After what seemed like an eternity, the guys came out. They looked so wretched and dismal with their long and bruised faces. I resisted the urge to hug them and offer to clean up their sores and open wounds.  
"So, um, what did he say?" I asked timidly.  
"We have to do suicides until we fall over and-"Will began.  
"—we have to polish all the drums until we can see our 'shining faces' on all the sides," Scott finished. "We also have to write a joint report on the disadvantages to fighting."  
"That sucks but at least you guys don't have to write the report on your own."  
"That would be better," Will mumbled.  
"Hey man. Don't start anything else. I'm already in enough trouble."  
"So what are suicides, exactly? We never had those at my old school," I said.  
"Suicides are the sadistic punishment that band directors made up to make band camp a living hell," Scott said.  
"You have to march at an extremely fast tempo from one yard line to the next, then, march backwards. Then, march two yard lines over and two yard lines back until you've made it across the field or until your legs fall off- whichever happens first," Will said.  
I felt extremely bad for the guys. "I wish there was something I could do," I said lamely.  
"Look, we did this to ourselves," Scott said, "so we can take the punishment. At least I can."  
"I thought we weren't going to start anything, dude," Will said.  
"Yeah sorry. How are we ever going to write a paper together?" Scott said.  
"Well I can think everything up since I have brains and you can type it up since you have...fingers," Will said.  
"This coming from the guy who had to retake Algebra I. Riiight...I don't think so," Scott retorted.  
"You guys are so retarded. Can't you all just grow up for two seconds?" I turned and left in disgust. I could only imagine what the guys were thinking as I walked away. 


End file.
